Business Directories

Emirates takes Dubai’s expo bid to the skies

Dubai, January 20, 2013

Dubai's national carrier Emirates is putting the full force of its A380 fleet behind the emirate’s bid to land the 2020 World Expo by attaching giant “Expo 2020, Dubai UAE, Candidate City” stickers to its fleet.

The first aircraft to be dressed with the words “Expo 2020, Dubai UAE, Candidate City” was EK 306, which left for Beijing in the early hours of Thursday morning. In the coming weeks, the airline’s entire A380 fleet – currently standing at 31 – will carry the Expo 2020 message.

Emirates is attaching giant stickers to its A380 fleet, promoting the UAE’s bid to hold the event in Dubai in seven years time.

World Expo, staged every five years and last held in Shanghai, attract millions of visitors. This would be the first time the event is held in the Middle East, and Emirates, one of Dubai’s great success stories, is a Premier Partner.

“The Emirates’ A380s are such a powerful symbol of progress and represent the rapid economic and infrastructural journey Dubai has undertaken,” said Tim Clark, the president of Emirates Airline.

“Emirates operates the largest A380 fleet in the world and with the interest generated globally by these magnificent aircraft, they will be a powerful tool to further Dubai’s bid,” he added.

Emirates has 31 A380s and the Expo message will eventually be taken to all of its A380 destinations – currently numbering 21. Most recently, A380 services have been launched to Singapore and Moscow.

Dubai is competing against four other candidate cities including Ayutthaya in Thailand, Ekaterinburg in Russia, Izmir in Turkey and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The winning city will be announced in November 2013 following a vote by the 161 member nations of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).-TradeArabia News Service